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Author's Chapter Notes:
I wanted there to be a feeling of hope. Not sure what wlse to add.
And a Child Shall Lead Them

The Master shot up from his throne beneath the ruins of Sunnydale High School. "They have come, and not alone." He took a few steps towards the exit, then spun to face his childe.

"Jon, go above. I must remain here. Be sure the young one does not enter this place. But coax the others in."

"But you said she could not stop you. She lacked the knowledge needed to close the
Hellmouth, Sir." Jon knew questioning his master was dangerous, but so was a stake
wielded by a Slayer.

The Master held back the blow he felt compelled to give his impertinent childe. He grimaced at the vampire's gall in questioning him. "Of course she does not know, but I will not let anyone hinder my plans. She is the only thing resembling a threat."

Jon cowered in subservience for a moment longer, then turned to join the battle which was about to begin above.

The Master watched the childe race towards the surface and then ordered the minions who remained below to scatter throughout the caverns that used to be the halls of Sunnydale High.

Then, he seated himself once more, and concentrated.

~~`~~

They all fired at once. Many of the wooden shafts missed their marks, but enough hit an unbeating heart that the number of vampires dwindled, slightly.

Buffy, Spike and Dawn leapt over the foliage and ran across the street towards the entrance. They were soon followed by 10 men, Xander and Jason.

Willow, Anya and Clem grabbed a few canvas bags each, as did the remaining officers.
They sprinted towards the ruined building, and set up the bags at the top of an embankment that used to be steps leading to the front door of the school. Five officers who seemed to have an almost natural ability with a crossbow set themselves up behind the bags, and took aim.

Buffy hurled herself at the first vampire she met. He went down quickly as she staked him. Without missing a beat, she stood, turned and staked another.

Dawn was apprehensive as she ran to the beast leering at her. She was fearful of the death that might come, but she was pumped up beyond her imagination. She smiled with glee when she spun and kicked the demon backwards. Then she crouched next to him, and quickly drove the stake home. "One!" She smiled, keeping a count as she always did when she patrolled. She looked around, an almost feral heat running through her system, and found her next target.

Xander and Jason fought together, trading off hits, mimicking the officers lined up beside them. At that moment, Xander held a vampire from behind as Jason punched the beast. "A stake would be good," Xander yelled after another hit went into the demon's gut, and almost knocked the wind out of the human standing behind it.

Jason held the stake, and looked from it to the vampire before thrusting it into the demon's chest. When it dusted, Jason smiled. "That IS pretty cool."

Xander shook his head, then grabbed a stake from inside his jacket and pushed Jason down. The Vampire that was trying to sneak up behind the detective fell to the ground, but blew away before he could fully hit the dirt. "It loses its fascination after awhile," was all Xander said as he helped the guy to his feet.

Spike tore through the Vampires as though possessed. He turned and staked almost without pause, demon after demon, barely taking a breath, as the dust settled from one before leaping towards the next.

Willow and Anya stayed back and threw the water balloons at any Vampires that escaped the humans engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Once these demons were incapacitated, the officers armed with the crossbows took aim and fired. As of yet, the two women did not need to face any of the minions one on one.

~~`~~

Billy Palmer walked through the streets that night on his way home from The Bronze. He had just split up from his friend at the last corner, figuring they could each make it the next few blocks without incident. The tall brunette was almost home when he heard what sounded like a massive gang fight coming from the shattered building of the old high school. Curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to investigate.

When he got closer, he hid himself across the street, kneeling down behind some bushes. He saw people, at least 50 of them, all fighting with each other. Some were firing what looked like crossbows towards a group on higher ground. He thought he recognized one of the girls standing with them, but he couldn't be sure from this distance. He moved as quietly as he could to the side, and nearly yelped when he got a clearer view of the classmate who was fighting with the large group.

"Dawn?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow grabbed another one of the holy water-filled balloons and flung it towards the demon. A moment later, he was dusted when the officer right in front of her fired his crossbow. The odds had changed; the demons were now outnumbered. She was about to breathe easier when another wave of vampires came pouring out of the entrance.

“Oh shit!" The redhead said, then quickly covered her mouth as though she was still a child in her parents' home.

Clem looked at her. "It's ok. I don't mind."

A hand touched her shoulder, and she jumped. Willow slowly turned, and was relieved to see the face of a young man. She was even happier when she noticed the hand on her shoulder was warm.

The boy looked toward the scene behind her, then back into her eyes. "What's going on?
Why is Dawn fighting?" Then he looked at Willow more closely. "Hey, wait a minute. don't I know you?"

"Um, I dunno. How do you know Dawn?"

Jason and Xander ran behind the barricade of canvas and crossbows. "Anya, more stakes!"

The woman hadn't noticed the young man, and stopped mid-turn as she went to retrieve the stakes. "Who are you? You shouldn't be here." She unzipped one of The Slayers' black bags while she kept an eye on the stranger, and handed an armload of stakes to Xander, and then to Jason.

Billy watched her, not understanding why they were using crossbows, water balloons and pieces of wood for a fight. He looked again at Dawn, who was punching another vampire, and then someone else caught his eye. "Mr. Worthington?"

Billy took a step back as Xander and Jason ran off. They randomly passed out the stakes to the officers who still hadn't gotten the knack of pulling the shafts of wood back out before the vamps actually became dust. One tended to lose a lot of stakes that way.

Then he realized he knew the man who had just left as well. "Wait a minute, I know I know you," he said to Willow. "I know that guy, too. And why is my history teacher gang fighting with my girlfriend?"

Willow stopped mid-throw, and turned to Billy. "Dawn is your girlfriend?"

Billy's brow furrowed. "Out of everything I just asked you, that's the one thing that catches your attention?"

The officers kept firing, then yelled, asking for more cover. Willow quickly turned back, and began throwing the balloons. Billy watched for a moment before joining her. She seemed to be aiming at the people with weird faces, so he did too. His arm was stronger than Willow's, and all those years of baseball hadn't hurt his aim one bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Master felt the moment was right. He did not sense the death of any humans yet, and there should have been by now. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on the Slayers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike turned, ready to plunge the stake into its next victim, and stopped midway as
Joyce's face appeared before him. "You're back?" he asked.

"I had to come," she said with a frown firmly in place. "I had to warn my daughter to stay away from you. You disgust me! I wish I could be there to keep you away from her. I can only hope my presence will divert her from your nonexistent affections."

Spike was crushed, and nearly dropped his stake at Joyce's words, allowing a Vampire to tackle him from behind.

Buffy watched as a vampire dissipated in front of her. When her view was clear, she saw her mother. "Mom!"

Joyce turned, smiling at her daughter. "Buffy, I'm so glad I could see you one last time. I must tell you how disappointed I am in your choice of men: first Angel, and now Spike.
Can't you find comfort in anything that hasn't killed thousands?"

Buffy blanched. "What?"

Spike flipped the vampire over, and quickly had the leverage needed to stake him. He remained crouched when he heard Buffy's soft cry. When he turned and saw Joyce, he remembered immediately the words said to him by Joyce not a moment ago, and walked to stand at Buffy's side, knocking down and dusting the Vampires that dared to get in his path.

Buffy's hands covered her face when she felt Spike stand beside her. "Ah, Spike, I am trying to tell Buffy about my feelings. She doesn't seem to understand why being with you is wrong."

Spike carefully looked at Joyce, and then into her eyes. Those eyes always had a gleam in them, even when she visited the gang with Tara during Corlon's spell. That same spark of life had carried over into the after world. But these eyes carried nothing. "'S not Joyce, luv." He turned when he felt the tingling in his spine and dusted another vampire.

Buffy looked up, and at her mother. "You're not…" She looked earnestly at her mother.
Her face seemed wrong. Her smile, or the crease in her brow. she wasn't sure. She then remembered what Giles had told her. The Master had a power, not thrall. He didn't need to hypnotize you to make you see things; he just needed to project an image to the right place. "You're not my mom. She happens to like Spike."

Buffy turned her back on the illusion with some difficulty, and ran to the nearest vampire she could exterminate. After a short scramble, Buffy looked back and saw nothing. She joined the other skirmishes, and fought hard against each vampire as they attacked.

Dawn had missed the ghostly visitation, but caught the last bit of the scene as her mother faded away, revealing Jon. She remembered the fight he had with Spike, and grinned as she charged the childe. She ran as hard and as fast as she could, then leapt above the head of the unsuspecting vampire, spun midair, and landed facing him. "Hi, ya," she smiled and waved with her now stake-less hand.

Jon looked at her confused, then down to his chest with a neatly placed stake protruding from his heart. "You can't stop him," he said, just before fading into ash.

"Wanna bet?" she replied, before running ahead. She could now make out the entrance to the nest with ease. Only a few Vamps were left. She turned and saw Buffy and Spike each handling the last of the demons. She braced herself for another wave to attack, but none came. She ran along the lines of officers. More than a few were badly hurt, but if her count was correct, none had died.

She helped Xander assemble the ones who were injured too severely to walk alone. Jason had a broken arm, and he allowed another officer to use him as a crutch as they hobbled along with the others. The wounded officers were led back to the empty canvas bags that had functioned as a holy water barricade. It was then that Dawn saw Billy. Her face turned beet red when she realized that Billy was not only surprised to see her battling vampires, but that she was able to help a man to walk who was nearly 3 times her size.

The boy ran up to her, and tried to help take some of the weight of the injured man.
"Dawn, what is going on?"

She smiled shyly at him. "Uh… well." She leaned down and settled the man with the others trying to delay an explanation.

Clem came up behind her. "Dawnie, you make it out ok?"

Both teens turned to the overly wrinkled demon. Dawn nodded at him. Billy hadn't seen this guy's face before. "What the…?"

"Um. Okay, Billy, this is Clem. He's a demon. Vampires are real. And, there's a Hellmouth in there that we have to close," she concluded, pointing yards away to a hole in the ground. There was a passage that led to the old library, which had been pushed underground after the explosion on graduation day four years ago.

"What?" Billy asked.

"Ok. You remember when you were about 12? Bad kiddy league coach… bad dreams… kind of a 'Wizard of Oz' moment after?" Dawn asked.

Billy's face twisted. "I do… But how do you?"

Willow walked up to the boy standing with Dawn. "Was that you? Wow, I guess you grew up. Billy, wasn't it?"

Xander strode by, weaving among the fallen officers and acting as the medic for them.
"Oh, yeah, I remember you." Then he walked over to the next officer.

Buffy and Spike ran back to them. "Ok. That's all of them up here. There's probably about 40 or more still inside, but I can't be sure." She turned to Spike. "What do you think?"

"Hard to tell with The Big Evil in there. Feels like about 50 more, scattered though." Spike saw Billy. "Mr. Palmer, I take it your lessons are all finished, and that you have a death wish."

Buffy studied the young man. "Oh, hey, did you like that band the other night?"

Once again, the teen was taken aback by how easily these people fit the most mundane things into a very 'blowing my mind' conversation. "Yes. No. And they were okay," he offered.

Buffy nodded, then looked at Dawn. "Does he know what's going on?"

"Kinda. But it's not like I invited him or anything."

"I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I was just coming home from The Bronze and heard fighting."

Spike noted the touch of fear in the boy's voice. "Well, you know now. Make yourself useful and help out Mr. Harris there. Try to get these guys comfy until we can get them to hospital." Billy nodded as if in a trance and walked towards the tall well-built man helping the wounded. He was too lost and confused to do anything else.

Dawn jumped up. "Wait, Billy, you went to The Bronze?"

"Yeah. Thought you might be there. It is a Saturday night after all." He absently wiped the blood off of a man's arm with a torn piece of cloth.

"Oh," she smiled, "Maybe next week?"

He looked around at all of the strangeness going on. "I dunno. Maybe."

Dawn felt her heart sink. "Oh, okay." And she joined her sister and Spike.

Buffy watched her sister. "Give him some time. He's just figuring out about a hundred things at once. It can be a lot."

Dawn sighed and nodded. "OK. So, what next?"

Buffy stood up. "Xander, who's in good shape to go in?"

They reassembled quickly, leaving 9 officers behind, along with Anya, Willow, Jason and Billy. Everyone else grabbed as many weapons as they could carry. Once they went in, there would be no coming out until the Master was dead, or they were.

Willow settled herself down next to Jason as they all watched the others head into the entrance. He couldn't really comprehend everything yet, but he knew that the people going in were risking everything. "Are they going to be okay?"

Willow smiled faintly at him. "Don't worry. We have always won with one Slayer. With three Slayers, it's a given." She watched his face soften, then looked back as the last of them disappeared into the ground, and hoped against hope they would all come back out alive.

~~`~~

Buffy and Spike took the lead, closely followed by Dawn and Xander. The six officers that were healthy enough followed closely behind. They were nearly halfway there, when Buffy stopped, and then Spike. Dawn looked around. "Vampires," the teen commented, not realizing that she had said it out loud.

Buffy and Spike smiled proudly at each other. Dawn had just gotten her first 'slayer sense' vampire warning. All at once, they were jumped from behind. Five Vampires were beating on the men who had been taking up the rear. Dawn lashed out at the demons first, dusting one. The remaining officers attacked two more. Xander was holding off a fourth. Spike staked the vampire on top of Xander at the same time that Buffy staked hers.

"Well, that was exciting," Spike commented as he brushed off his pants.

"Yeah. We really don't need much more excitement," Buffy stated, just before another small group of vampires attacked.

The ambushes continued until they reached the chamber.

There The Master sat, with several more minions waiting for them. "Welcome." He stood and held his arms out as though he was greeting guests. At the same time, the minions encircled him, protecting the aged Vampire.

Buffy, Spike and Dawn took up defensive stances, preparing for an attack. They were not disappointed. All at once they were rushed from all directions. Hands and arms seemed to come from everywhere, as more minions appeared on either side, grabbing at them. Buffy threw herself backward, punching one, and knocking herself flat on the ground. She flipped herself up and watched as Spike head butted the vampire holding him from behind.

Dawn freed herself as well, turning and ready to fight. Unfortunately, the officers were not faring so well. All three Slayers, went to work slaying the demons, while trying to free the men who had volunteered to fight with them.

Dawn twisted herself around, kicking a vampire as she turned, while staking another. The man who was being held wiggled free, and then staked the fallen minion. Buffy flipped backwards out of the reach of an attacking vamp, then punched him with a left hook, and then a right, before staking him. She didn't see the enemy running towards her from the left.

Spike twisted the head of a vampire. His neck crunched just before he fell. Spike dropped down and finished the job with the wooden weapon in his hand. When he looked up, he saw Buffy about to be hit from the side. A quick glance at the crevice to her right told him exactly where she would land. "Buffy!!!"

He bulldozed his way past the throng of demons, and leapt to Buffy just as she flew towards the crack in the ground that led to Hell.

Buffy twisted her body as she felt herself fly through the air, so that she would hit the crevice feet first. Her best chance to save herself would be to grab the lip of the Hellmouth. She watched while her hand, as if in slow motion, missed the edge. Her eyes closed, and a silent prayer went out to her mother, hoping that the vision earlier that night was a lie. Then she felt a warm tight grip around her left forearm. When she opened her eyes, she looked into deep blue ones. "William."

He smiled at her. "Com' on, luv." He extended his other arm into the hole and gripped her right hand when she reached for him.

A flash of movement passed between them, and they looked back to see The Master holding a blade with a crimson tint running along the edge. Then they both looked down at their arms.

A single red line sliced across the set of clutched forearms. Droplets of their blood fell into the abys below. The Master had slashed them both in one easy sweep of the knife he now held in his hands. "I have done it!" he exclaimed.

He leered at the forms still hanging precariously over the edge. Buffy was trying to pull herself up, but Spike was having trouble keeping his balance.

"Now, to finish." The Master came closer to them.

Buffy's eyes widened when she watched him move towards the pair once more. She started to swing herself until she gained purchase against the other side of the wall of the mouth to Hell.

She then kicked off, carrying herself back to solid ground and pulling Spike to his feet in one fluid motion. "I don‘t think so." She corrected The Master, her head cocked and her mind and body poised to fight.

"Armstead? Sound's like a ponce's name," Spike heckled the Vampire.

"NO!!!!!" The old demon wailed.

Both Slayers looked back to see Dawn struggling with the surviving Vampires. Spike motioned for Buffy to go and help her out. She took off, and Spike smiled at The Master.
"So, you have any last words?"

"You will die." Armstead bellowed at the man, kicking and punching. Spike ducked and moved quickly, finally finding what he was looking for. The silver chain was barely noticeable, but the gleam could not have been missed when The Master fell to the ground.
Spike yanked it off easily before Armstead could stop him.

The only male Slayer known to man or beast yelled back at the women, "I have it!"

Armstead stood up, just as the first tremors began. The Hellmouth blazed as flames surged past the edge.

"Might wanna hurry up, Bit!" he yelled.

The Master grinned. "I have still won. You will all die now."

Spike pulled an item from under his shirt, and tossed a cross at The Master.

As the Master cowered and ducked to avoid the flimsy charm, Spike threw the stake at him. The stake found its mark, and the Vampire fell.

Spike watched as the body of the ancient vampire seemed to decompose in front of him. First, the flesh dried and cracked, falling off in clumps to reveal muscle and bone. The tissue of his eyes sank in and liquefied. The bones of his skull soon crumbled into pieces.
When the show was over, Spike turned back to see Buffy, Dawn, Xander and the four remaining officers fending off the Vampires that were coming out of a side cavern. He ran up to them and pushed his way to Dawn. "Bit, it's time."

She looked behind her and nodded. He slipped her the silver knot he'd taken from Armstead.

Buffy grabbed her arm. "I'll take you." They fought their way past the few vamps left, and Buffy stood guard as her sister pulled the other silver pieces from the duster's pocket.

Dawn fished the penknife that Spike had lent her from another pocket, and opened it up, holding it in the same hand as the charms. She held her other hand as close to the Hellmouth as she could. The tremors were getting stronger, and keeping her balance was a challenge.

She looked at her open palm, then sliced through it, deep enough to draw blood. She cringed from the sting of the cut before placing the charms in her bleeding palm and gripped them tightly.

Dawn closed her eyes as she positioned her hand so that her blood could drip easily into the Hellmouth. There was no incantation; she just needed to voice that she understood her calling. That was it. She suddenly remembered the passage that led the group to believe another visitor was coming, and smiled.

"The voice of acceptance is her salvation!" she shrieked, "My salvation!" She took a final breath. "Ok then, I accept it. I am a Slayer!"

All at once the shaking stopped. Dawn opened her eyes, and looked at the ground at her feet. The crack that remained was only that, a thin line that marked the area that had been a deep crevice. She turned around and saw that the remaining vamps were in scattered piles of dust. The officers were a mess; two were dead. Xander was winded as he helped one of the men to his feet. Buffy and Spike both looked back at her, each holding one of the men who'd lost their life in the fight.

Dawn looked back at her hand. In her palm, tinted with dried blood, was a mark she'd never seen before. The charms were gone, but in their place was what looked like a birthmark in the shape of three twisted knots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In London: the following day

Giles stood on the stoop of the home of the coven. He was elated with the news that his girls had survived, and won. He had wanted to tell the old woman, although he had no doubt that she already knew.

A shroud of black cloth hid the young woman, who answered the door. "Oh, Mister Giles, I didn't think to call you," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry. Is something wrong?" he asked concerned.

The woman nodded, but did not invite him in. "The mistress has crossed over."

Giles was dumbstruck. "Oh dear, I had no idea. How? When?"

"It was early this morning. She went to bed quite late last evening, but this morning, when
I went to wake her, all that remained was her clothing lying on the bed."

"I see." Giles began to turn and head down the steps once more, but then looked back.
"She was." He wasn't sure what to say. "I will miss her."

The woman nodded again before closing the door.

Giles sat in his car and looked out the window, watching the people pass by. A group of friends. a family. a couple, and then some laughing children. He gave himself a half smile, before heading to his flat, and planning his trip back home. Home to Sunnydale.


Chapter End Notes:
:D



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